Alternate Worlds: Humanity's Century of Oblivion

As five futuristic helicopters descended onto the grassy ground, several soldiers funneled out of the ships and onto the surface. There were five squadrons of five and a captain in glorified armor. Every soldier had H, R, and M in red and in that order etched into their suits. The letters sat right in front of their hearts and had different chevrons, stars, and capital I-shaped pieces around the letters. The captain had gilded epaulets and a helmet that concealed his face in a black visor. His armor was a toffee tan with accents of red, and his weapon was the usual laser rifle with a laser scope modification. The five sergeants also had toffee tan and red armor, but they had no epaulets. The regular soldiers had simple tan armor and simple laser rifles.

The soldiers marched up to a gate and confronted two ponies in golden armor and wielding spears. They crossed their spears right when the soldiers walked onto the drawbridge.

"Halt!" one of the guards shouted at the soldiers. "Who goes there?"

"Конечно, они говорят на английском языке," the captain grumbled to himself. His Russian accent was as thick as a redwood. "Greetings, ponies. I am Kliment Vashniin, representative of the Human Revolutionist Militia. I am here to speak with your Princess Celestia."

"What duties do you have that are so important for the princess?"

"I am here to negotiate peace with her. Your nation stumbled into our world, and we want to ensure the protection of this nation from outside attacks."

"There is no need to let them wait any longer," a distant voice from the sky announced. What the soldiers could have mistaken for as an angel flew down in front of the soldiers. It was taller than Kliment, immediately intimidating him from its size alone. The pony had a coat as white as heaven's clouds, and its colorful mane and tail drifted through an impossible breeze. It had immense wings and a long and prominent horn. It wore a golden crown on its head and a golden yoke around the base of its neck. Its two pink irises pointed down at Kliment. They looked open, yet they also looked hungry for something. "I knew that I was needed once I noticed those strange machines float down from the sky."

"Those ships are just helicopters," Kliment answered to an indirect question. "My commander wants me to talk to you about peace. I also have many bits of information you may need to know."

"We can do so at my castle." The tall mare turned its body to the gate and kept its eyes focused on Kliment. "Come. It is best we discuss this peace you desire as soon as possible."

Kliment gestured his men forward and began following the creature. "You are the Celestia those ponies were speaking of, yes?"

The tall mare nodded. "Yes, I am Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria. I have lived longer than any of the ponies you see around you."

"Ну, она бессмертная сука," assumed one of the soldiers. He was soon met with a deathly glare from the sergeant next to him.

Celestia and the HRM soldiers walked through Canterlot's labyrinth of streets. The soldiers had a few glares and stares shot at them from a few unicorns walking down the streets. Once Celestia and the soldiers reached the castle, they walked through its many halls to reach the throne room. The HRM admired the mosaic windows in the halls. Three of the regular soldiers had raspy coughs as they walked to the throne room.

Once they were inside the room, Celestia sat on her throne and faced the HRM soldiers. "So, what brought all of you to Equestria?"

"We came here with warnings and the desire of negotiating peace with your nation," Kliment answered. "I will start with the warnings. There is this government called the Global Extraterrestrial Security Troop, or the GEST. They have already came to this world, and I believe they might have some deadly decisions that they are going to make."

"What kind of decisions?" Celestia's smile drooped to a neutral state.

"They might either destroy this nation or steal all of its resources. They have been doing this for years. I have even heard that they have primed missiles that are aiming for this nation."

Celestia tilted her head a little. "Missiles?"

"Think of them as gigantic bombs that fly through the sky. Just one of them can destroy this entire city."

Celestia's eyes widened a little. "That sounds very destructive. Why would they do that?"

"The GEST has dealt with aliens for a long time, about seven decades. They believe that your species is a threat to the human race and should be monitored for studying."

"If they are pointing weapons of mass destruction on us, I think this GEST is the threat to us. What would we do that would harm them?"

"Anything they can think of. I am not sure what your species can do, but whatever it is, it will make them worried. You see, we, the HRM, are at war with them. They want to create a government where capitalism rules and gives the possibility of unequal treatment. We want to create a government where everyone is equal and provides for the government. This conflict might spread to this nation, as it is in the middle of what we call 'Dead Man's Sea'. Pirates and bandits sail everywhere over here, and they might land here and attack."

"I see." Celestia thought to herself about this scenario. "Wait, I never had a problem with your species before. What happened?"

"Well, your entire nation appeared on our planet, Earth. The GEST see your species as invaders that are capable of anything. That is why they are investigating this nation."

"So, you are part of a government called the HRM, and you are at war with the GEST? Are both groups your species?"

"Yes, they are. We both strive for the betterment of mankind, but it seems that the GEST want the war path while we focus on the peaceful path."

"Have you tried negotiating with them? It almost seems like your war is pointless if both of you want a better species in the end."

Kliment shook his head. "We cannot negotiate with them. Their ideas of a better human race are far different from ours. They want capitalism, we want socialism. They want an aristocracy, we want a democracy. They want isolation of the human race, we want peace and trade with other species. We cannot negotiate with a group composed of radicals either. They would never agree with our changes as long as they support their General Solk and his outrageous ideas. However, I believe that if we work together and form an alliance, we could stop the GEST from destroying your nation."

Celestia pondered the request. She had no idea what to do. Siding with the HRM would drag Equestria into the war and possibly destroy it, but refusing could result in the HRM being a future adversary. She had to think long and hard to finally reach a conclusion.

Before she could say her answer, the door in the back of the throne room slammed open and revealed four squadrons of GEST soldiers and lieutenant Drake himself. To say the least, he was very pissed.

"I knew you bastards would be here!" shouted Drake with a burning rage. "You never let us conduct diplomacy in peace!" Drake cocked his laser rifle as the other soldiers raised their rifles. "Soldiers, fire at will!"

The GEST soldiers shot a barrage of lasers through the room and into the HRM soldiers. Some of them fell to the ground in dying shouts of their native tongue. Some of the HRM soldiers fought back and killed a few GEST soldiers with some lasers to the head or chest. Two of the HRM sergeants were killed by multiple lasers to their shielded faces. Celestia kept herself protected by a small barrier spell. She darted her eyes from dying soldier to dying soldier, internally screaming from the bloodshed right in front of her eyes.

Celestia eventually couldn't handle the fighting anymore and unleashed a spell upon all of the soldiers, freezing them in place. Her words were booming and aggressive. "Enough! This conflict has gone too far! I want every single one of you out of my castle at once!"

"Вы понимаете, что вы сделали, вы дикие ублюдков?" an HRM soldier bitterly spat at Drake and his soldiers.

Celestia deactivated her spell, dropping the soldiers back onto the the ground. She gave the soldiers a glare and a heated scowl. "Come back when all of you are civil enough to have a meeting without spilling blood."

The soldiers, now under the heavy intimidation from Celestia, walked out of the throne room. There was only one quarter of the original HRM soldiers left, and the GEST soldiers lost half of their soldiers. Both groups of squadrons refrained from killing each other for the rest of their journey back to their ships. Celestia, now by herself and without any soldiers to hinder her rethinking or mood, thought about this mess. These humans have quite a feud between them, she began to herself. What will happen when they come back again? Are they going to declare war on Equestria, fight between themselves and forget us, or something even worse? I need a way to stop them from destroying all of Equestria, but what?

"I see that you have a little problem with those infernal humans," a voice commented from somewhere in the throne room. It was raspy and throaty yet slick and sinister. "I can help you with this problem, but you'll have to trust me one hundred percent."

"Who's there?" Celestia demanded. "Are you some one of the many twisted monsters from Tartarus?"

"No, not at all. I am just a simple creature that was defeated by the humans years ago. I only wish to help you avoid the same fate that I had after humanity got the best of me."

Celestia was still searching for the voice's origin. "You encountered these humans before?"

"Yes, and they were far more advanced than I expected them to be. They had laser weaponry, hovercraft technology, potential interstellar and intergalactic travel, bulletproof armor, advanced robotics, and more. They were quite a hardy and determined bunch."

"So, you have fought these humans?"

"Yes, yes I did, but it was due to their poisoning of my world. They killed every member of my species and left me as the only survivor. I still do not understand why they would do such a thing."

Celestia frowned for the creature. "I am terribly sorry for your losses. I never knew these humans could do such a thing."

"They can do much more if your world is invading their turf. If they already have missiles primed at you, we must act fast."

"What can we do to stop them from destroying Equestria?"

The air in front of Celestia's throne radiated with a blue light. The light disappeared and revealed a new creature. Its body had the same build as a human, but it had two huge, floppy ears folded backward. Its eyes were colossal when compared to its body, and its fingers had scalpel sharp claws. It also had a curly tail that extended out of its body. The entire creature itself was covered in an onyx suit with a thick, leathery substance in the more flexible parts of it and plates of metal around its body and limbs. The head was covered by a helmet with no visor.

The creature pressed a pad on its armor, unlocking and removing the helmet from around his head to his neck and shoulders. The creature's skin was a light pink, and its eyes were two massive black ovals with reflections in each of them. Its big ears were still folded back. It smirked a little to show its sharp teeth. The creature then took a deep breath to collect Equestria's air into its lungs. "Ah, that is the best air I've ever breathed. Anyway, I will give you my technology. I have a very special plan to stop these humans from destroying this nation. You will most certainly like it."

Celestia eyed the creature and kept her voice firm. "When will you start giving me the technology and plans needed?"

The creature's mouth grinned to hide its true intent. "We start now. First order of business, DNA manipulation."

<>————————————————————————————————————————————<>

Private Manke sat inside of the drop ship he was assigned to. He was with his fellow comrades and his sergeant, waiting for the sweet relief of fighting and the comfort of Jaminino City's barracks.

One of the squaddies was listening to their comm link. When the link was finally cut, he faced the soldier to his right. "Hey, have you heard of some weird events that are occurring?"

The soldier shrugged and mumbled his words. "Like what?"

"From what I just got done hearing, an entire island came out of nowhere in the Pacific Ocean. The dudes on the other end said that there were bright colors and midget horses there."

"Huh, sounds like Jaminino Island's arrival without the freaky giant scorpions and abandoned temples."

"Hold up a second, soldier," the sergeant intervened as he held out a hand to the squaddies, "what island just rose from the ocean?"

The first soldier turned to the sergeant. "The other soldiers said that it was this entire world where these small horses dominate as the advanced species. Even though it's not as advanced as us, it has some pretty decent technology under its belt."

"A world where horses rule?" questioned another soldier next to the sergeant. "It must be weird to have your mounts be that intelligent."

"If I'm correct, I don't think humans even exist on it at all. It's just horses and who knows what else."

"So, what's General Solk going to do about the island?" the sergeant asked with some interest. "Is he going to claim it as property of the GEST?"

The first soldier shrugged. "I'm not sure. I do know that we might have pissed off their ruler."

Another soldier with a southern accent hopped into the conversation. "How the hell did we piss off a leader of a race of intelligent horses? Did we ride 'em or somethin'?"

"We shot and killed a few HRM soldiers, that's why."

The sergeant huffed at the answer. "Ugh, I get that we have the kill any HRM if we meet them policy for a good reason, but maybe we should have some restrictions on that policy. A good soldier knows not to shoot the enemy in front of a foreign ruler."

"Does this information change our mission?" Manke asked the other soldiers. "It'd be nice if that battle we fought in earlier is the last one we'd be in for today."

The second squaddie faced Manke and smirked through his helmet. "Don't worry, newbie, we're still going home."

"Attention, soldiers, we're almost at Jaminino City," the co-pilot announced. "Brace for landing."

The drop ship flew over a stretch of sea and to a coastal city on a massive landmass. The city itself was colossal and unique with its design. The skyscrapers of the city were cylindrical with domes and singular antennas on their tops. Eight tall towers with coils on their tops surrounded the city in an octagon arrangement. Some of the towers were partially submerged in water to provide a complete octagon. The city had several different characteristics with its setup and structure. There were a few factories and depots scattered around the command center in the middle of the city. The command center was an enormous complex with some helipads on it, dozens of walkways, and a few towers hanging from its sides. Swaths of skyscrapers filled the skyline of the city, and a couple residential zones rested near the edges of the city. A huge, metal wall with turret, watchtower, and mortar defenses wrapped around the towers. The wall ended once it reached the ocean.

The drop ship flew over to one of the empty helipads hanging off the command center and slowly descended onto it. The ramp door opened, and the soldiers walked out of the ship and into the command center. They navigated the intricate hallways and paths teeming with either soldiers, workers, or scientists to reach the section leading to the barracks.

When the soldiers were only two floors away from the barracks, a lieutenant walked up to them and halted their travels. "Excuse me, but is Private Manke part of your squadron?"

Manke raised his hand and stepped forward. "That's me. What's the reason?"

"General Solk needs you in his office immediately."

Manke felt his body shake a little, but he kept his fear at bay. "Why does he want me?"

"He didn't provide an exact reason. He just wants you in his office."

Manke walked up to the lieutenant and glanced from path to path in the crossroads. "Um, I'm not very familiar with this place. Can you take me to his office?"

The lieutenant sighed and nodded. "Well, you are a private, so it makes sense why you'd request that. Sure, just follow me to his office."

Manke and the lieutenant walked down the left hallway and rode an elevator up to the thirty-fifth floor. They kept walking through the hallways until they reached the commanders' hallways. The lieutenant walked over to the third door on the left and stood next to it. Austin G. Solk was written on the door. "Well, here's his office," the lieutenant told Manke. "I need to get going now. There's a batch of new recruits that need training."

As the lieutenant hustled to a nearby elevator, Manke opened the door to Solk's office and stepped inside the office. The office was fairly vacant with the exception of a few filing cabinets, a desk with three swivel chairs on their respective sides, a desk name plate with Solk's full name, a stack of documents with a pen, a computer, and a porcelain cup full of coffee. Solk sat in his chair and navigated through the tabs on his computer. Once Manke was right next to one of the two empty chairs, Solk turned from his computer to Manke. "So, you must be Private Manke, right?"

"Yup, that's me," answered Manke. "What do you need me for?"

"You're here because I have randomly chosen you for a special program I created. You see, I usually appoint anyone who's a colonel or higher to be tested in the chronocrystallization process. However, I want to know how someone will act, behave, and, most importantly, survive when they are built from the ground up already chronocrystallized."

"One question," Manke interrupted in one of Solk's pauses. "What is this chronocrystallization process?"

"To put it simply, it involves putting a chronocrystal, a type of gem we found in meteors decades ago, into someone. The crystal alters the body in ways not imagineable. The crystal gives partial immortality, resistance to injuries and wounds, an increased rate of healing, a greater memory capacity, and strengthened bodily functions like lifting objects, fighting disease, or breaking down food. I'm wondering if you're ready to be the first clone to be chronocrystallized."

"Well, all of the effects sound really beneficial. Why don't you use that stuff for all of your soldiers?"

"We only have a minute amount of chronocrystals. We have to save them for those that we believe are crucial leaders or fighters for the war. However, you will be the only exception, as the scientists testing the crystals want some information regarding the effects it has on clones. So, what is your option?"

Manke had one last question. "Is the process painful?"

"Not at all. All I need to do is put a chronocrystal in your hand. The crystal does the rest."

Manke thought to himself for a few seconds before making his decision. "I accept your offer."

"Good." Solk reached under his desk and lifted a teal box onto the desk. He set it down in front of Manke and unlocked it by entering a code into its keypad. The box flicked open to reveal a small, pulsing cyan crystal on its side. Solk took it out of the box and placed it in Manke's left palm. "It won't do anything until you remove your glove. Just set the crystal where I put it, and it should make you more powerful than before."

Manke placed the crystal on the desk. He removed his left glove with his other hand and grabbed the crystal with the exposed hand. The crystal glowed much brighter than before as it clung onto his skin. The crystal seeped through his hand and into his body. With every passing second, the crystal shrunk until all of it was absorbed into Manke's hand. After he absorbed all of the crystal, he felt a surge of energy rush into his brain. His vision flashed blue for a second, and his senses and body felt rejuvenated, despite his short life.

"Congratulations," Solk started with a small smile, "you're now a chronocrystallized human."

Manke took his glove and put it back on his hand. "So, what do I do now?"

"I'll now take personal control over your missions. For now, rest in the barracks for a while. You've already fought through hell and back, so I don't think you need to do it again."

Manke got up from his chair and headed for the door. He looked over to Solk as he opened the door. "Thanks for the crystal, Solk. I won't let you down."

Solk nodded at Manke, staying mum as he returned to his computer and cup of coffee. Manke closed the door and began his journey to the barracks. Unfortunately, Manke had to talk to a sergeant major to have him as a guide.

Now, what was General Solk examining on his computer? Well, ever since the negotiations and diplomacy between Equestria and the GEST ended, he was searching through some of the recently made reports. The report that intrigued him the most was the one involving the strange illness from two of the GEST soldiers. General Solk read through the next section of the report involving Twilight's discussion with Lieutenant Drake.

Deadly Disease Discovered in New Landmass? Recent Research Supports This Claim

Throughout the conversation involving Twilight's studies, free time, and occupations, Lieutenant Drake and his sergeants analyzed her information and asked more questions that arose from her explanation of her daily life. Partway through the conversation, two of the corporals assigned with Lieutenant Drake experienced severe chest pain, migraines, drowsiness, aphasia, problems with eyesight and hearing, pins and needles, internal and external hemorrhaging, and loss of consciousness.

The issues were first noticed when blood leaked from the bottom of the two corporal's helmets. Upon removal of their helmets, it was shown that they were bleeding severely from the ears, eyes, noses, and mouths. Only seconds after the discovery, they both spoke gibberish and collapsed to the ground. They were pronounced clinically dead two minutes after losing consciousness. Similar symptoms of significantly lower degrees were reported in several more of the soldiers, including Lieutenant Drake himself.

After their visit to what has been discovered as Equestria, five out of eleven of the surviving soldiers were treated from the mysterious illness. Three of the five soldiers, including two sergeants, died from severe brain damage, several aneurysms, and rapid degeneration and rupturing of the cardiac muscle. The other two soldiers were scanned and shown to have suffered from degeneration of the cardiac muscle and moderate brain damage, but they were able continue living in a persistent vegetative state. The rest of the soldiers, including Lieutenant Drake, were shown to have minor hemorrhaging, minimal brain damage, and minimal cardiac muscle degeneration. These soldiers are expected to make full recoveries in approximately three weeks. As for the two soldiers in a persistent vegetative state, full recovery is not expected, and death is likely to occur in less than a week.

Blood, artery, vein, cardiac muscle, white matter, and grey matter samples are to be collected from the deceased soldiers for further studying into what the mystery disease may be. Contact with infected and deceased soldiers is to be limited to scientists, and samples of infected tissue are to be studied under biosafety level two conditions. Further research and discoveries involving the mystery disease will be released as soon as they are completed.

Dr. Poirre